Daniel Vasquez: Relax people, it¿s free pizza, not an invasion

In case you missed it, Pizza Patrón is giving away a free pepperoni pizza to anyone who orders in Spanish. For some people, the one-day marketing gimmick is akin to burning the American flag.

Relax, it’s just pizza. Really.

As I blogged previously on Consumer Talk, Pizza Patrón will give a way a free pepperoni pizza to anyone who orders dinner in Spanish on Tuesday, June 5, between the hours of 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. There are two Pizza Patrón shops in South Florida, both in Hialeah, which are expected to honor the bargain – while supplies last.

Sounds, good right? You don’t have to be Latino or Hispanic to get the free pepperoni pie. You just have to know a couple of words and BAM! Free food.

But online reports reveal the campaign may be getting some people riled up, racially-speaking.

“It seems to punish people who can’t speak Spanish, and I resent that,” Peter Thomas, chairman of the Conservative Caucus, told Yahoo! News. “In public areas, people should be speaking English, and that includes pizza parlors.”

“Maybe they thought it was a cute thing to do, but I think it’s discrimination,” says Marcela Gomez, president of Hispanic Marketing Group in Nashville, in the report. You get the picture.

Again, nobody has to give up their U.S.-citizenship, turn their back on democracy or change their views on immigration policy. Just utter a few words in Spanish.